Singapore Law Professor Convicted of Sex-for-Grades Graft

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- National University of Singapore
associate professor of law Tey Tsun Hang boosted a student’s
grades in exchange for sex and gifts, a judge said in convicting
the academic of corruption.

Tey admitted to giving the student favorable grades
“because of the gratifications and the sex that he received,”
Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye said in handing down his
verdict at a Singapore subordinate court today.

Tey, a former district judge, had said he was in a
consensual relationship with the student. He argued in court
that he was coerced by officers of Singapore’s Corrupt Practices
Investigation Bureau into confessing that he gave better grades
to the student in exchange for sex and gifts, including a S$740
($585) Montblanc pen.

Tan said that whether or not Tey actually showed favor to
the student wasn’t vital to the charges.

“I came to the irresistible conclusion that the accused
had the corrupt intention and guilty knowledge in all of the six
charges against him,” the judge said.

Tey, 42, plans to appeal the conviction, his lawyer Peter
Low said following today’s hearing.

Prosecutors are scheduled to recommend a sentence for Tey
tomorrow. The judge can accept the recommendation or impose a
sentence independently. Each of the six corruption charges
carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a S$100,000
fine.

Tey, married with a 15-year-old daughter, should be given a
stiff fine as he has “suffered great mental hardship” since
the probe began in April 2012, Low said during the hearing. Tey
has also lost his tenured professorship, his permanent resident
status in Singapore and probably will be fired from the
university, Low said.

The university today said it fired Tey with immediate
effect, adding it has found no evidence of any irregularities in
its grading system.

The court heard during a 28-day trial that the former
student paid for an abortion after becoming pregnant.